Jambs  E.  Gregg,  Principal  George  P.  Phenix,  Vice  Principal  Frank  K.  Rogers,  Treasurer 
William  H.  Scoville,  Secretary 


The  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute 

HAMPTON,  VIRGINIA 


BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 


William  Howard  Taft,  president 
Clarence  H.  Kelsey,  vice  president 
Francis  G.  Peabody,  vice  president 
George  Foster  Peabody 
Charles  E.  Bigelow 
Arthur  Curtiss  James 
William  Jay  Schieffeun 
Frank  W.  Darling 


J.  Henry  Scattergood 


Samuel  C.  Mitchell 
Alexander  B.  Trowbridge 
Chester  B.  Emerson 
James  E.  Gregg 
Robert  R.  Moton 
W.  Cameron  Forbes 
Henry  Wilder  Foote 
Homer  L.  Ferguson 


c A circular  of  information  to  all  who 
are  interested  in  the  education  of  the 
American  Indian 


OFFICE  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL 


June  1, 1922 

In  April,  1878,  at  the  request  of  Captain  R.  H.  Pratt,  a group 
of  seventeen  Indians,  who  had  been  held  in  Florida  as  prisoners  of 
war,  were  admitted  to  Hampton  Institute,  which  had  been  estab- 
lished by  General  S.  C.  Armstrong , ten  years  before,  as  a normal 
and  industrial  school  for  Negroes.  The  satisfactory  progress  of 
these  first  Indian  students  led  to  the  addition  of  forty-nine  more 
from  the  Northwest  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year.  The  enter- 
prise immediately  won  the  interest  and  sympathy  of  Presi- 
dent Hayes  and  of  the  Honorable  Carl  Schurz,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior;  and  in  the  following  year  the  Government  established  at 
Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  a school  for  Indians  to  provide  training 
similar  to  that  of  Hampton  in  elementary  subjects,  agriculture, 
and  the  mechanic  arts. 

The  Government  continued  to  give  financial  support  to  the 
education  of  Indians  at  Hampton  until  1912.  The  enrollment  rose 
to  160  in  1887;  in  1911-' 12  it  had  fallen  to  81;  in  the  following 
year,  when  the  appropriation  had  been  withdrawn,  it  was  44;  in 
1918-19  it  was  16;  this  year  there  have  been  29  Indian  students. 

It  is  evident  that  the  lack  of  Government  aid,  the  distance  of 
Hampton  from  the  more  important  reservations,  and  the  fact  that 
this  is  not  distinctly  an  Indian  school  have  operated  and  will 
operate  powerfully  to  hinder  Indian  students  from  coming  to 


Hampton.  Futhermore,  the  strengthening  in  recent  years  of  the 
schools  in  the  West — both  the  Government  schools  and  those  un- 
der private  and  church  management — has  in  large  measure  met 
the  need  of  such  training  as  Hampton  offers. 

In  April  of  this  year,  Miss  Caroline  W.  Andrus,  who,  suc- 
ceeding Miss  Cora  M.  Folsom,  has  been  for  about  fifteen  years 
Indian  Correspondent  and  in  charge  of  the  Indian  Record  Office, 
resigned  her  position;  and  in  view  of  the  present  small  enrollment 
of  Indian  students,  the  Trustees  of  the  Institute  have  decided 
to  appoint  no  one  to  succeed  her,  with  the  understanding  that  her 
work  shall  be  cared  for,  so  far  as  possible,  by  the  other  officers  of 
the  school.  It  is  not  in  the  least  intended  to  cut  off  or  to  discour- 
age the  admission  of  Indian  students;  all  who  wish  and  are  quali- 
fied to  enter  the  Institute  will  be  welcomed  and,  as  before,  will 
be  gladly  granted  all  its  privileges.  In  view  of  the  good  record 
which  many  of  the  Indian  graduates  and  part-course  former  stu- 
dents of  Hampton  have  made,  it  is  to  be  desired  that  there  may 
continue  to  be  a representative  group  of  Indian  students  here. 
The  entrance  requirements  are  now  somewhat  higher  than  they 
have  been;  new  students  should  be  able  to  do  work  of  high-school 
grade.  But  the  advanced  courses  in  teacher-training , home  eco- 
nomics, business,  and  agriculture,  as  well  as  the  eleven  courses 
of  the  Trade  School  in  carpentry,  blacksmithing , automobile  me- 
chanics, etc.,  are  stronger  than  they  have  ever  been;  in  agricul- 
ture and  in  normal  training,  courses  are  now  offered  leading  to 


the  degrees  of  B.  S.  in  Agricultural  Education  and  B.  A.  in  Edu- 
cation. It  is  hoped  that  there  may  he  some  Indian  students  who 
will  wish  to  take  advantage  of  these  courses.  As  in  the  past,  spe- 
cial attention  will  he  given  to  the  care  of  all  students  in  manners 
and  morals;  and  the  inculcation  of  practical  Christianity  is  held 
to  he  the  most  important  purpose  for  which  the  Hampton  School 
exists. 

Catalogues  and  other  material  describing  the  life  and  work 
of  Hampton  Institute  will  be  sent  gladly  upon  application;  and 
questions  upon  any  points  not  covered  by  this  circular  will  be 
welcomed. 


